Serena Williams loses to Justine Henin in U.S. Open quarters

NEW YORK -- Maybe Serena Williams wasn't as healthy as she said. Maybe she wasn't as match-tested as she really needed to be.

This much is certain: When it comes to playing Justine Henin at Grand Slams this year, Williams has been overmatched every time.

Finding all the right angles and hanging tough on long rallies, Henin beat Williams 7-6 (3), 6-1 Tuesday night to reach the U.S. Open semifinals.

They have met in the quarterfinals at three consecutive majors, and Henin is 3-0.

"Playing Serena is really exciting for me," Henin said. "I was really happy about the second set: I played much more aggressive."

So while the formerly No. 1-ranked Williams is the active leader among women with eight Grand Slam titles and will stay on that number, current No. 1 Henin will have a chance to get her seventh major.

Henin's next opponent could be another Williams: Serena's older sister, Venus, faces No. 3 Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals Wednesday night. Not much question for whom Henin will be rooting -- she's 1-7 against Venus Williams, 7-0 against Jankovic.

Henin beat the younger Williams at the French Open en route to her fourth title in five years there, and again at Wimbledon.

"I got a lot of confidence in Paris and London," Henin said.

Their matchup at Wimbledon in July didn't feature Williams at her absolute best: She could barely hit backhands after spraining her left thumb and hurting her left calf in the previous round.

Because of the thumb, Williams withdrew from every event she was scheduled to play in the 1 months between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

But she arrived at Flushing Meadows full of confidence, as usual, and said she didn't need tuneup tournaments to get ready. While Williams' thumb appeared fine, and there were no other obvious injuries, her father said Sunday that she was dealing with other physical problems -- and doing a "marvelous job of hiding it."

Regardless, Tuesday's match featured brilliant play by both past U.S. Open champions, from stinging serves to big groundstrokes to touch volleys. Henin was far better at the net, winning 11 of 14 points when she pressed forward, while Williams was only 5-for-14.

Mostly, though, the difference-maker was Henin's ability to steer Williams this way and that along the baseline until the Belgian could find an opening for her smooth backhand or a well-placed forehand. Repeatedly, especially in the second set, Henin wrong-footed Williams to end a point.

The first set was much closer and of much higher quality. Henin broke in the opening game by ending a tight net exchange with a forehand volley, and she served for the opening set at 5-4.

But Williams buckled down to break back right there with a backhand return winner down the line and a loud, "Come on!" The tiebreaker began with a 23-stroke point in which Williams made two great defensive plays before swatting a backhand passing winner down the line.

"I really got nervous at that time," Henin said, "and I knew every point was important."

She showed it, delivering a 105 mph ace to go up 4-2, followed by a forehand winner she punctuated with a yell of "Allez!" Williams seemed deflated and dumped a forehand into the net to end the set.

Henin took control right away in the second set, breaking for a 2-0 lead as Williams' mother and coach, Oracene Price, rested a cheek on a hand, barely able to watch.

"It's kind of like she had no energy. No get-up-and-go," Price said. "Tennis is a head game, sometimes. Your head tells you to do something, but you can't."

The No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic reached the quarterfinals for the first time by beating No. 23 Juan Monaco 7-5, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-1 in a match that included the unusual sight of Monaco losing a point because a ball fell out of his shorts.

"I went nuts! I was cursing at me, I was yelling at my pants," Monaco said.

Monaco was serving while ahead 5-3 in the third-set tiebreaker when the players settled into an extended baseline exchange. As Monaco whipped a shot, an extra yellow ball he had tucked away in case of a fault popped out of his pocket -- the second time it happened during the match. He stopped playing, dropped his racket, doubled over and screamed, knowing what was coming.

"Right away I knew I lost that point. It's very weird," Monaco said. "That sort of thing cannot happen twice in the same match."